Tag: outdoor lighting

Recessed Lighting Options for Your Porch

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recessed lighting for your porch

Recessed lighting is a commonly used lighting option, especially indoors. It is installed directly in the ceiling and allows the look of a well-lit home without the fixture being too visible. Recessed lighting is  highly functional, versatile and contemporary. If you are thinking of adding new lighting to your home, we recommend recessed lighting. When it comes to the exterior of your home, you can still consider recessed lighting, especially for your porch. A well-lit porch is necessary to ensure your safety, especially when you’re coming back home at night and you have little lighting. If you are considering adding recessed lighting to your porch, here are some options the pros at Roman Electric recommend!

1. First Things First: Choose LED Lights

Yes, we have recommended LED lights countless times, but that’s only because of how great they are! LED lights have many options, are dimmable and often come in shatter-proof encasings. In addition, LED lights use up to 75% less energy than incandescent lights and can last 25 times longer. So, if you’re considering what kinds of bulbs you should use for recessed porch lighting, we recommend LED lights!

2. Use Outdoor Lights Only

This usually goes without saying but we still want to mention it here because it’s very important: Only use lights that are meant for outdoor use. If you use indoor lights outdoors it will expose these lights to moisture and debris – which they are not designed to handle. This can most likely end up being dangerous for you and your lights, so make sure you use outdoor recessed lights. You can usually tell which lights are meant to be used outdoors as they will have labels that say “For Damp Locations” or will have a proper UL rating.

3. Consider Lighting Controls

Lighting controls such as dimmers, motion sensors and timers are great because they create energy-efficient lighting and save a significant amount of money. However, if you want to install recessed lighting with lighting controls, it is best to consult a professional before you do it. Many recessed lights are not meant to be used with lighting controls. For example, if you use recessed lighting with no dimming capability with a dimmer, these lights won’t perform well. In fact, they might continue using the same amount of energy while giving you a poorly lit porch. So, do your research before you add lighting controls to your recessed porch lights.

4. Consider Recessed Lighting Techniques

There isn’t just one way to add recessed lighting to the exterior of your home. There are various downlighting, sizing and spacing techniques to consider. In addition, when it comes to recessed lighting you want to consider the different lighting “trims.” The trim is essentially the shape or cut of the fixture in which the bulb sits. There are various trims such as flangeless trims, flanged trims, adjustable trims and wet location trims. These options give homeowners the chance to play around with the aesthetic they want to achieve with the appearance of their lights.

Trims also have functional purposes—adjustable trims are better for sloped ceilings whereas wet location trims are better for areas where there is moisture and humidity. Baffle and specular trims can reduce glare to prevent harsh lighting whereas open reflector trims emit a higher degree of light.

Before you look into all these options, techniques and trims, consider the type of porch you have and the ambience you want to create. Ideally, you want your porch to be well-lit without too much of a glare. So, a baffle or specular trim might work for you. Since a porch is a wet location, you might want to consider recessed lights with wet location trims as well.

Have Questions About Choosing Recessed Lighting for Your Porch? Call Roman Electric at 414-369-3798 or Schedule a Service online!

Creative Ways to Light Your Home

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creative ways to light your home

If you are looking for a fun project to start off the new year, consider changing up the lighting in your home. Good and unique lighting can make your home well-lit as well as give off the ambiance you want! If you don’t know where to start, don’t worry. The pros at Roman Electric have come up with a helpful list of creative ways to light your home.

1. Solar Pathway Lighting

A shadowy, unlit home at night is both unsafe and aesthetically problematic. Plus, it makes it harder for anyone walking in the front yard a little harder to see, increasing the chances of tripping and falling. To prevent this from happening, add some solar pathway lights. These lights are inexpensive, come in a variety of styles and designs and since they are solar powered, they won’t take up any electricity. These great pathway lights can come with photovoltaic cells that absorb sunlight, which helps to light the bulbs at night. Lastly, these lights are easy to install as they don’t require any wiring or cords—simply stake them in the ground and they’re ready to go!

2. Add Under Cabinet Lighting to Your Kitchen

Task lighting is important for various rooms in your home such as your kitchen. Having areas where you work, cook or perform tasks, require decent lighting—hence the name “task lighting.” If you find that the lighting is poor in your kitchen, consider adding under cabinet task lights. Plus, when installed properly, undercabinet lighting can add a more contemporary feel to your kitchen. For this type of lighting, LED bulbs will most likely be the best option, since they use less energy and last longer. Plus, they are dimmable and, more importantly, don’t radiate heat so you don’t have to worry about sweating into your food.

3. Get Creative with String or Fairy Lights

If you want to add some creative lighting to your kids’ rooms, you can never go wrong with string or fairy lights. Here are some ways you can creatively light your own or your kids’ rooms with these fun lights:

  • Hang Them Around the Mirror

One way you can add a nice, unique ambiance to a bedroom is by hanging string lights around the mirror. Use damage-free hooks to properly secure the lights and make sure you use LED bulbs in plastic encasings. Incandescent bulbs with glass encasings are more vulnerable and can radiate heat.

  • Fairy Lights in A Jar

Fairy lights are smaller and thinner than string lights and can be battery operated. You can either hang them in different areas around your room or put them in a jar to create a small lamp for yourself!

  • String Up Lights with Photos

The combination of hanging up lights with photos is very popular, especially among young adults. It gives personality to rooms and creates a warm, cozy effect.

4. Use Candle Sconces for Soft Lighting

If there are areas around your home that would benefit with soft lighting, consider using candle sconces. Your bathroom could be a great place for this, since bathroom lighting is usually harsh and unflattering. Using candle sconces with battery operated candles will achieve softer lighting and more importantly, will require less electricity!

Light Up Your Home with Roman Electric!

If you want to learn more about different creative ways to light your home, get in touch with the pros at Roman Electric! Call us today at 414-369-3798 or schedule a service with us on our website!

Lighting Tips for Your Outdoor Patio

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One of the most enjoyable activities we can partake in during the summertime is a relaxing night spent outdoors on the patio. Kicking back with friends and family around food and drinks is something everyone enjoys, and it’s even better when you get the opportunity to host at your home.

However, nothing can derail an idyllic night outdoors like a wonky lighting setup. With the right lighting, your patio becomes the place to be, with just the right amount of illumination that highlights what you want. But the wrong lighting means you and your guests won’t be able to enjoy the time together like you’d hoped. Here are a few lighting tips for your patio from the lighting experts at Roman Electric!

Assess What Your Patio is Used for

The first step in lighting your patio is to figure out how you want your space to be used. Not every patio is built the same, and what makes one shine might make another look cramped and oversaturated.

Is your patio going to be more relaxed with a low-key environment centered around a fire pit? What about a livelier barbecue area where people can crank up the music and splash in the pool? The function of your patio is integral to figuring out the lighting setup, so get a rough idea of how you and your family are planning to use it before going all-in on lighting purchases.

Don’t Overdo It

Thanks to the lack of natural light, it doesn’t take much to highlight the areas of your patio that you want to show off. One of the biggest mistakes that some people make is thinking that they need a lot of artificial lights to effectively showcase their patio – but the opposite is true.

You won’t need much. In fact, with just a few types of lighting, your patio will sparkle and stand out. Here are a few types of patio lighting that you can choose from, although the list isn’t exhaustive by any means:

  • Footpath lighting
  • Floodlights
  • String lights
  • Luau lights
  • Light coming from fire in a fire pit
  • Lanterns

Pick a couple of these lighting types and space them out to work in tandem to create an ideal patio lighting setup.

Style, Substance or Both?

But again, you’ll need to keep in mind how you plan to use your patio. If it’s going to see a lot of foot traffic – perhaps in a home with lots of small children that could find their way out there – then you’ll want to avoid delicate lighting setups that wayward visitors could stumble into.

But if you’re just setting up for a peaceful getaway with a few friends, then you can go with a more elaborate setup. Just plan ahead and take your future situation into account before you invest in something that will need adjusting soon.

Roman Electric: Your Outdoor Lighting Pros

No matter what your lighting situation is – whether you’re thinking about investing in a patio for the first time or just need some advice on how to tweak your current lighting setup – Roman Electric can help! Let our trained experts make sure everything will go smoothly, and give us a call at 414-369-3798!

5 Summer Lighting Tips

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Summer lighting is something all Milwaukee homeowners should put effort towards maintaining. Not only does summer lighting boost your home’s aesthetic and comfort – it also can add to your home’s safety. But before you go out and purchase new lighting to compliment the season, you’ll want to learn about some easy summer lighting techniques from the experts. The professionals at Roman Electric have compiled 5 summer lighting tips for your Milwaukee home.

1. Utilize Sunlight

If the sun’s out, why not use it for lighting? Instead of simply turning on indoor lights while closing off the sun’s brightness, open your curtains and blinds to allow some extra sunlight to come in. Natural sunlight helps brighten your home without using any energy from lighting, and it can automatically boost your home’s aesthetic without any extra work! During the morning, sunlight is more warm and comfortable. But during noon, it becomes more neutral. 

2. Upgrade Your Light Switches to Dimmers

Depending on the time of day, you may not require a lot of light. However, some light fixtures are too bright for certain tasks. Fortunately, by upgrading your light switch to a dimmer, you can choose the right amount of brightness you want your lighting to produce. Not only will dimmers allow you to set the mood you desire with your lighting – they can also save energy by not fully powering your lighting.

3. Install Patio Lighting

When throwing a cookout or barbecue in your background, nothing fits the mood better than some patio lighting. Running some string lights from the top and placing flood lights around the corners can provide some beautiful illumination that fits a nighttime party aesthetic. Additionally, you can install some patio ceiling fans that hang above the patio table, helping to make outdoor dinners a more comfortable experience.

4. Brighten Up Pathways to Your Home

Aside from comfort, security is also an important aspect of summer lighting. We recommend using pathway lights to brighten up walkways to your home during the night. This provides safe passages for family members or friends returning to your home late at night, as you’ll be able to clearly see who is arriving at your door. Additionally, this can dissuade possible intruders, as they’re less inclined to be working within brightened pathways.

5. Invest in Motion Sensor Lighting

Speaking of safety, motion sensor lighting is an immensely useful component for any security system. It helps detect any person who arrives your door and can work in tandem with your security camera to capture a possible intruder. You can place these either on your walkway entrance, outside your front door, and any other entrances leading to your home.

Help boost the quality of your Milwaukee home’s lighting by following these summer lighting tips! And if you require new lighting installation or would like to upgrade your light switches to dimmers, contact Roman Electric for our lighting and light switch services. Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to schedule an appointment with the electrical experts you can depend on!

Related Links

Spring and Summer Energy-Saving Tips – U.S. Department of Energy

Summer Loving – Energy Efficient Outdoor Lighting – U.S. Department of Energy

Spring Outdoor Lighting: The Ultimate Guide

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Spring in Southeastern Wisconsin brings beautiful weather – and what better way to showcase the season’s beauty than setting up outdoor lighting that screams “professional”. Although we have discussed in the past some outdoor lighting tips, we want to expand upon this topic, further assessing options for your yard. Milwaukee homeowners should know the best ways to improve their outdoor lighting, and the professionals at Roman Electric want to help. Read below to see what kind of lighting is best suited for each outdoor area.

Porch –

Cover the railing with string lights for fun accent illumination and use lanterns to brighten up each support beam. If you have an enclosed porch, consider installing pendant lights for those outdoor dinner nights. An outdoor fan with a light fixture is also a great idea for those long summer evenings with friends. Use step lights on the porch steps for both safe passage and a boosted aesthetic.

Patio –

A fire pit provides both light and warmth for those who prefer the magic of a burning flame. Place some chairs around the fire pit for a relaxed evening with friends. Stake lights or lanterns placed around the general area to highlight a safe path through the yard combine safety with subtle illumination. If your patio has an open roof, run string lights underneath in either a horizontal or vertical direction.

Deck –

Place a lantern around each support beam on the railing to light up the general vicinity. On the outside edges of your deck, place landscape lighting in the grass to brighten even further. Avoid using a fire pit on a deck, as this can burn the wood. Instead, use specifically made deck lights to brighten up any inside area of your deck.

Balcony –

Run rope lights across the railing and direct them up your support beams. Rope lights come in a variety of colors and are an inexpensive accent that can transform a balcony at night.

Front Yard –

Landscape lighting is important for your front yard. Use them to guide a safe passage to your home, as well as brighten any potential obstacles such as vegetation or fences. As the landscape lighting nears your home, you can then switch to pole-lamps to beautifully finish the passage to your door. Speaking of vegetation, you can also cover bushes and shrubs with string lights for added illumination.

Backyard –

Landscape lighting works well to brighten up the edges of your backyard, as well as creating a safe passage if the size requires it. Additionally, you can use landscape lighting as a guide towards other backyard attractions, such as a gazebo or garden.

Gazebo –

Lanterns and string lights are a gazebo’s best friend and can be assorted in almost any fashion for your preference. Additionally, you can have a flood light outside your gazebo to provide a brightened entrance and exit.

Garden –

Depending on the design of your garden, there are wide variety of fixtures to choose from. Solar fixtures are a great way to illuminate a garden without the need to run cords. Spot flood lights, path lights and edge lights all come in solar options that can help bring out the beauty of your garden at night. You can also find garden lighting kits that come with an array of fixtures ideal for highlighting the flora in your garden.

Make your spring outdoor lighting an dynamic experience with our simple fixture tips! If you are ready to install new outdoor lighting in your home, contact Roman Electric today! Our lighting services can help every Milwaukee homeowner revitalize their yard with affordable options. Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to schedule an appointment with your lighting experts.

Outdoor Lighting Tips for Spring

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With spring right around the corner, now is the time to prepare outdoor lighting. Milwaukee weather is slowly heating up, and although chilly breezes are still the norm, the beginning of spring is the perfect time to prepare your outdoor lighting for the upcoming season, as well as the eventual summer. With help from the experts at Roman Electric, we have provided some outdoor lighting tips for spring to provide that perfect illumination – while also safely brightening up your home exterior.

Before proceeding, be sure any outdoor lighting you purchase is Energy Star certified. Energy Star lighting cuts down immensely on energy usage and ensures your utility bill isn’t making you pull out your hair.

With that said, let’s get started!

Lanterns

  • Lanterns are a basic yet effective way to boost illumination and draw attention to select areas.
  • Lanterns come in several different variations such as electrically-powered, solar-powered, and candle-lit, as well a variety of designs and patterns to give an old fashioned, warm glow.
  • Lanterns are available in hangable forms but can be purchased with attached poles to act as pathways or lawn decorations.
  • Make sure you purchase lanterns that are designed for outdoor weather conditions.

String Lighting

  • String lights are easy to install and can brighten up your outdoor area without driving up the utility bill.
  • String lights come in endless variants of colors, bulb type, and length.
  • Be sure any string lighting you purchase is suitable for outdoor weather, as they are designed to handle these conditions and avoid deterioration.
  • String lights can be hung around patios and porches, as well as lining the edges of floors and gazebos.
  • Additionally, you can wrap string lights around trees, bushes, and shrubs, adding beauty to your outdoor vegetation.

Landscape Lighting

  • Landscape lighting brightens the pathways, highlights trees and bushes and illuminates your home adding both beauty and safety.
  • Landscape lighting allows for endless customization, as you can create any pattern you want.
  • Beyond improving your home’s aesthetic, landscape lighting also works as a safety measure, allowing you to see more clearly during the night.
  • Many landscape lighting options are low voltage and relatively easy to install and can be programmed to turn on at a specific time.

Pendant Lights

  • Pendant lights are a modern upgrade to conventional lighting and are a surefire way to increase the outdoor aesthetic of your home.
  • Pendant lights are light fixtures hanging from a chain, cord, or rod, and are usually suspended lower than other fixtures.
  • Pendant lights come in different designs ranging from dynamic to minimalist and are a perfect addition to any outdoor patio table.
  • Roman Electric offers affordable lighting services for pendant lights for your porch and deck ceilings.

Fire Pits

  • Want to ditch the light fixtures for natural illumination? Fire pits are your answer!
  • Having an ignited fire pit in the center of patio chairs adds a natural brightness that boosts your home’s aesthetic.
  • The crackling of flames along with the added warmth gives your outdoors a comfy ambience while also preventing the spring breeze from getting too chilly.

Make your home the brightest on the block with our outdoor lighting tips for spring! Ready to install new lighting in your outdoor area? Roman Electric is ready for you! We offer the professional lighting services to boost your home’s aesthetic for the upcoming seasons. Give us a call at 414-369-3798 to schedule an appointment and get started.